When you read a Bible verse, how do you decide which words to focus on? For example, which would you say are the important words in the following verses: “Blessed be the LORD, my rock… My lovingkindness and my fortress, My stronghold and my deliverer; My shield and He...
We see them in most nativity scenes: three men off to the side, dressed in opulent robes. They seem out of place in the tableau, rich men bearing luxurious gifts, coming to worship a baby belonging to poor parents. We don’t know much about them. We do know they had...
I trust the sun will rise tomorrow morning. I trust gravity will keep my feet anchored to the floor when I get out of bed. I trust the light will turn on when I flip the electric switch. There is a slight chance that one or all of those things may not happen. But...
Names can ignite treasured memories or they can bring to mind people and experiences we’d rather forget. When I hear the name Barbie, I think of the iconic doll from my childhood. Elizabeth reminds me of the Queen of England. Sandy reminds me of…tragedy. Two years ago...
My heart weeps for her, even though we’ve never met. Twenty-nine, a newlywed, and terminally ill with brain cancer. Who wouldn’t be moved by Brittany Maynard’s story? Last April, Maynard was given no more than six months to live due to stage four glioblastoma, a...
They kept coming. For every fifty I swatted, two hundred took their place. There was no way I could survive the onslaught…of spam. When I turned on my computer, my inbox was filled with 62,465 “undeliverable” error messages. I began deleting, but the incoming waves...
Blatantly sexist. Hierarchical. Offensive. Oppressive. Domineering. What would provoke such harsh declarations? The writer of those words goes on to identify the reason: “capitalized, masculine pronouns in…every description of God.” These severe pronouncements...
We want love. We need love. More than one thousand song titles contain the word love. Books have been written about it. Poems recited. We chase it and sing about it and fall for imitations. And no matter what we do, we can’t get enough. Maybe that’s because we don’t...
They say cleanliness is next to godliness. Whether it’s next to godliness or not, cleanliness is certainly healthier for us. Partially due to a lack of hand-washing, increasing numbers of patients are contracting infections in the one place they should expect to get...
A friend recently posted on Facebook: “Not the happiest of days in my life. God must have bigger plans for me.” I’ve had days like that. When I didn’t get the job. When a relationship broke. When the medication wasn't effective. At the end of days like these, I’ve...
Apparent Contradictions Have you noticed how often God appears to be a God of apparent contradictions? Think...
Handling Disappointment The year 2020 started with such potential. New year. New possibilities. To say it has...
When It Doesn't Seem Like God is Good Social media often receives a bad rap for being a timewaster. But during...